The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-03-08

| Whatever is the reason, it is a fact that
forest lions are more intelligent and
| teachablc than those bred III ecEiine-
ment. The lion-tamer begins by taking
the feeding of them into his own hands,
| and so gets them TO know him. He
commences feeding them from o.
side the den, then ventures inside To-
one at u time, always carefully Keeping
! his face 20 the animal and avoiding any
! violence. which is n mistake whenever
! il can he avoided, as il arouSes the dor
| mant devil in the beasts. Getting To
| handle the lion the tanner begins by
stroking him down he back, gradually
working up to the head, which he be
gins TO scratch, and the lion, which,
| like the cat, likes friction. begins 10
rub his head against tile hand. When
this familiarity is well established
board is handed 10 the trainer, which he
! places across the cage. and teaches the
lion TO jump over it. Gradually this
hoard Is heightened, the lion jumping
, over il at every stage. and then come
the hoops. etc, held ON top Of the
board +" quicken the beasts under
standing. To teach the animal To Jump
! over the trainer the latter stoops along
side the board. >o that when the lion
clears one he clears the other. and half
: dozen lessons are generally sufficient
To- teach him this. To get Il lion tn
, lie down and allow the trainer TO stand
on him j. more difficult. Ii j. done by
Ticking the beast over the hack with Il
small whip and at the same time pressing
him down with one hand. BY raising
, the head and taking hold of the nostrils
. with the right hand, and the under lip
and lower jaw with the left. the lion
loses greatly the power of his Jaws. SD
that Il man can pull them open and put
. his head inside the beasts mouth. the
feat with which Van Amburg'> name
WAS 80 much associated. The only
danger * less the animal should raise
one of his fore paws and stick his claws
into YOU. and if he does. the tanner
must stand fast for his life until he has
shifted his paw. Old lions are easier
handled than young ones, as they are
sure to bP better trained. By the way,
did Won ever hear the story of Wall
lacc'S fight with the dogs? No. Well.
Wallace was an old lion BELONGING" tn
George Wombwrll. the English men
ageric man, and the old beast WAS "a
tame a. a sheep. Well. George
tinancc> were ar low wafer and hr
thought TO advertise a fight between
Wallace and a dozen English ma>tifl;s
would prove a drawing card. And YOU
just bet it did. 1t took like wild fire.
and seats wcr" sold for the performance
as high a. twenty-five dollars apiece.
The house waS packed and hundreds
cOuldn't get im. Ii was queer 30 and
no mistake. When they were put in the
cage the lion didn't care for the dogs
and the dogs didn't care for the lion.
Sometimes the old lion would scratch
lump out of dog. and sometimes the
dogs would make H. if they were going
to worry the old lion, hut neither
showed amy serious fight, and at length
the patience of the audience rot eX-
hauSted, and they went away in dis
gust. Georges excuse WAS: We
can't make 'em fight if they won't. can
we?" He cleared over ten Thousand
dollars by that fight
Who were the leading liOn-tamers
in those days? Well. there was old
Manchester Jack. he WAS the first that
| can remember. He WAS with Womb
well. and WAS good aS amy. Then there
was Van Amburg. famous for the head
and mouth business. Crockett WAS one
of the most daring | ever remember.
4 den of lions got loose once and
Crockett jumped in among them-Six Of
en- and drove them back Ia the den
with only a riding whip. Daniel |
couldn't have made Il better showing |
than that. Crockett came la America |
with Howe & Cushing circus. and died |
right here in Chicago. Then there were |
the two Maccomo> Il dutfrr and |
the other the genuine article. The |
buffers real name was Jimmy Strand. |
and he used to keep gingerbread |
stall; the good man was niggcr. Ii |
is more dangerous for black man than
Il white. if il bc true. as they say. that
the beasts can nose a black man and are |
mad after the flavor of the flesh. These /
are most of the leading lion kings 1 re-
member. but there have been Others IF
less note. As | have said. as Il rule. !
drink rains them all. and YOU can
hardly wonder at it,
Then. besides the lion kings. You
must remember that there have been /
some famous lion queens. who have
been quite as daring. If not more SO,
than the lion kings. Women often do
more foolhar,ly deeds of daring than
men, for this reason. think. that they
don't sufficiently comprehend the
danger. - bicn1O HcTnEI